Basketball: Starting from the Rodman template

Chapter 129 Retired jersey

Fifth place in the Eastern Conference belongs to the New Orleans Hornets.

The sixth place in the Eastern Conference is the Milwaukee Bucks. They corrected Michael Redd and selected TJ Ford who has the ability to organize passes. This team quickly got back on track this season and entered the playoffs.

Of course, the more important reason is that they are in the east.

A record of 41 wins and 41 losses puts them in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

If this were in the West, it would only be ranked tenth in the West.

The seventh place in the Eastern Conference belongs to the New York Knicks.

The "Smiling Assassin" made a big move in his first season in New York. He changed three head coaches in one year, but still made the New York Knicks enter the playoffs.

And they will also be the Heat's opponents in the first round of the playoffs.

The eighth spot in the Eastern Conference belongs to the Celtics, who hold on to the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavaliers, who began to "explode" in March, were also in good shape in April, losing 3 of 4 games, but they were still 7 games behind, and ultimately ranked ninth in the Eastern Conference.

There is no way, the victory difference from falling behind at the beginning is too big!

A full 10 wins.

The Cavaliers have only 33 wins and 49 losses this season.

It can be seen how badly the Cavaliers lost in the first half of this season!

As the regular season came to an end, Woody's rookie season statistics were officially finalized. In the 03-04 season, he played a total of 76 games, averaging 33.8 minutes per game, averaging 18.75 points, 14.5 rebounds, 3.75 assists, 3.2 blocks, and 1.25 steals.The shooting percentage was 54.8%, the three-point shooting percentage was 0%, and the free throw percentage was 74.5%.

It can be said that from data to efficiency to performance, Woody has delivered a very good report card.

Anyway, when the Miami media talked about the Heat's choice last summer, they all praised it.

Judging from the results, the 03 draft year is worthy of being called the "golden generation".

In addition to Woody, the fifth overall pick in the first round, who contributed such statistics, other high-ranking players also performed very well in their rookie seasons:
首轮第一顺位的勒布朗-詹姆斯，场均上场40.3分钟，可以拿到21.3分5.5篮板5.9助攻1.6抢断，投篮命中率41.7%，三分球命中率29%。罚球命中率75.4%。

Carmelo Anthony, the third pick in the first round, averaged 36.5 minutes per game, 21.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals, shooting 42.6% from the field, 32.3% from three-point range, and 77.7% from free throws. .

Chris Bosh, the fourth pick in the first round, averaged 33.5 minutes per game, 11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, shooting 45.9% from the field, 35.7% from three-pointers, and 70.5% from free throws.

Dwyane Wade, the sixth pick in the first round, averaged 16.8 points, 3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game, shooting 46.5% from the field, 30.2% from three-point range, and 74.5% from free throws.

……

In the past two years, this would have been a performance that would have earned him the title of "Rookie of the Year".

But this year, they all became Woody's companions...

On April 4, just after the regular season ended, the league officially announced the winner of this season's "Best Rookie".

There is no surprise, this award belongs to Woody!
The moment the award was announced, the Miami media felt relieved.

The outside public opinion has been very loud in the past two days, and it was once inclined that LeBron James, Woody and Carmelo Anthony would win the "Rookie of the Year" together.

If this is the result, even though Woody did not lose the draft, the Miami media would not be able to accept it, because in their view, Woody's popularity has been shown, and it is obviously a level higher than LeBron James and Anthony. .

This is like putting Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan together and saying that both of them are "basketball gods."

O'Neal was undoubtedly the most dominant player in the league during his peak period, but there was still an insurmountable distance between him and Jordan.

LeBron James and Anthony did have the ability to win "Rookie of the Year" in previous years, but this year, they just can't face Woody like this.

Fortunately, the final result proved that these voices were completely "groundless" and nonsense.

In the end, there is only one "Rookie of the Year" this season, and that is Woody!
Judging from the vote share, Woody is quite convinced.

As high as 47.5% of the vote.

With the two major competitors, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, this number of votes is enough.

If you look at the votes for LeBron and Anthony...

LeBron's vote rate was 22.1%, Anthony's vote rate was 21.4%...

This further illustrates Woody’s advantage in “Best Rookie”!

The Denver media was somewhat dissatisfied with the result.

It's not that he's dissatisfied with Woody becoming "Rookie of the Year", but Anthony's vote rate was actually lower than LeBron's.

This……

How can a guy who has never led his team to the playoffs be ranked ahead of Anthony?

Don’t you know how difficult it is to make the playoffs in the Western Conference?
The Nuggets answered the playoff question again after Anthony joined!

They felt other media didn’t give Anthony enough respect…

The Miami media made various headlines to celebrate Woody as the first player in the history of the Heat to win "Rookie of the Year".

Some media have begun to call Woody the man who "rewrote Miami history"!
Woody posted the "Best Rookie" trophy on social media, and many domestic fans jumped over the wall to leave him messages.He became the first Chinese player in NBA history to win the "Rookie of the Year" award.For domestic fans, it is also a matter of great pride.

Especially last year when Yao Ming regrettably lost to Stoudemire with about 6% of the votes and missed the "Best Rookie", it made them feel bored and let it out.

Really are……

Cool!
Woody wasn't overly enthusiastic.

Because the Olympic roster will be announced soon, and he still doesn’t know how the domestic fans will react when they find out that he refuses to participate in the Olympics...

In addition, he really doesn't have much time to surf the Internet. The regular season is over and there are still three days before the playoffs start.

His high school jersey retirement ceremony took place within these three days.

So, after winning the "Best Rookie" trophy, he immediately returned to Akron.

Regarding this matter, everyone within the Heat team, including Stan Van Gundy, expressed understanding.

On the way back, Woody felt faintly excited and somewhat uncontrollable.This is the first time he has retired his jersey.

St. Mary's High School attaches great importance to the retirement ceremony of Woody's jersey.

The response from the students in the school was also very enthusiastic. His words "Saint Mary, this is for you" were made into banners and hung in all directions of the school. They can be seen everywhere.

Woody felt like he was back home.Stephen Curry was among the students, holding up his poster and shouting frantically at him.

The atmosphere was very good, but at the scene, reporters found that one person was missing...

Woody's "best friend" LeBron James did not return to St. Mary's for this somewhat important moment for Woody.

"I believe he has his reasons, but this will not affect our relationship!" Woody showed his free and easy side.

A reporter asked: "Do you think LeBron chose to avoid such an occasion because he lost to you in the Rookie of the Year competition?"

Woody said: "Probably not..."

He actually had another sentence, otherwise, wouldn’t he never see me again in the future?
But think about it, on a good day, he is the winner, so there is no need to be so mean.

Didn’t he come to attend his jersey retirement ceremony?

"I think he would be a little frustrated, which is understandable..."

As the saying goes, the more you think about it, the angrier you get!

Woody, who had no intention of being "mean", ended up making a little fuss about LeBron.

The reporter continued to ask: "Did you comfort him?"

"Of course, our relationship..." Woody said, looking up.

This made some reporters sigh inwardly, the relationship between the "Saint Mary Twins" is really...

So ferromagnetic!

Woody's No. 9 jersey was successfully retired at St. Mary's High School and hung high above the arena.After the retirement ceremony, Woody planned to leave, but he still made an appointment with Stephen Curry for a meal.

The two of them agreed to meet in Miami when Stephen Curry finishes his classes this semester.

"I hope I can still catch up with your game!" Curry's eyes were filled with anticipation.

"I'll try my best!"

You must know that Curry's exams for this semester will end in late May. According to the schedule, the Heat must at least advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Although the Heat's regular season record ranks second in the Eastern Conference, with this result, they should have entered the Eastern Conference finals.

But as we all know, the playoffs are different from the regular season.

Both the intensity and the pace of the game are much higher than those in the regular season.

A lot of strong rookies have overturned in the playoffs, and there are also many upstarts who have entered the playoffs for the first time.

And a cutting-edge force like the Heat, with strong newcomers at its core, can be regarded as a "model of overturning."

In addition, there is another reason:
The Heat's opponent in the first round is the New York Knicks.

Like the Heat, they also returned to the playoffs after two years.

Moreover, things have changed and people have changed, and they already belong to a completely different team.

But every city has its own heritage.

As the "Basketball Holy Land", the New York Knicks also have their heritage.

In the 99 playoffs, the NBA had its second "Black Eight Miracle" in history. The one who created the miracle was none other than the New York Knicks.And the one they turned around was none other than the Heat.

At that time, the Heat ranked first in the Eastern Conference and were ambitious to create a big scene.

But as a result, they lost to the New York Knicks by 20 points in the first game.

In the fourth game of the series, "Central Shooting King" Alan Houston relied on a rarely used floater to help the team beat the Heat and eliminated the Heat 3-1, creating the second " Black Eight Miracle”.

It is for this reason that when the New York Knicks were ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference, the entire New York media thought they were stable.

The New York Times even said directly: "The famous scene in NBA history will be repeated this season."

As the league's best fans at opening champagne in advance, New York fans are even more excited to start studying their opponents in the next round.At the same time, I fantasize about a brighter future:

You know, the New York Knicks, who completed the "Black Eight Miracle" back then, made it all the way to the finals!

I did it against the Heat that year, and I will face the Heat again this year...

God has let them miss the question, how can they not celebrate in advance?

Woody was originally planning to stay in Akron for two more days, and for this reason, he returned to Miami overnight to prepare for the playoffs.

That night, LeBron James suddenly liked a car dealer on his social media: Man, this car is really great!
In less than 5 minutes, he deleted this post at the speed of light, but it was still screenshotted by a media reporter at the speed of light.

Early the next morning, reports similar to LeBron's absence from Woody's jersey retirement and the purchase of a new car appeared in various large and small media news.

Of course, this is just a small episode. With the playoffs approaching, most media are still looking forward to the eight-group matchup in the first round of the playoffs.

The New York media and New Yorkers are very optimistic that the Knicks can complete "the bottom beat the top."

In the outside media, many people are more optimistic about the New York Knicks.

Because this team’s lineup is really not weak:
Marbury, Alan Houston, Van Horn...

This is the foundation of this lineup on the offensive end.

Just these two pitchers, coupled with Marbury's organizational connection, are enough to give defenders a headache.

Although Van Horn has not grown to the level of the "Second Generation Bird" as the "Cardinal" originally called him, he can still contribute steadily, averaging [-] or [-] points per game.

This is the offensive end, defensive end they got Mutombo in the summer.

In the middle of the season, Mutombo returned from injury with 6.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.Supports the New York Knicks defense well.

Another point:
do not forget!
The NBA's first "Black Eight Miracle" was created by Mutombo's Hawks team.

This team and this person all have the gene of "doing the following" and they know how to do things in such a game. It just so happens that the Heat are just a "rookie gang" full of new recruits.

How can the media not be optimistic about the New York Knicks?
Woody was interviewed the day before the game, and a reporter wanted to stir up trouble: "The playoffs are coming, and we are facing the New York Knicks, who have a grudge against the Heat. Do you think that under such circumstances, participating in the retirement of a high school jersey? Is the ceremony an unprofessional act and an irresponsible approach to the team? If you eventually lose to the Knicks, what responsibility should you bear for such consequences?"

Come on!

Woody said: "Everything I do complies with the procedures I should follow. In this regard, I don't need to give you a special explanation. As for the game against the New York Knicks, I don't have the ability to predict the future, but I think , It’s not without reason that we can climb to such a position. The playoffs are a challenge, and I accept the challenge. If we lose to the Knicks, of course I will bear the main responsibility as a core player!"

(End of this chapter)